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Kremlin: Biden Throwing "Oil On Fire" Of Ukraine Conflict; Sources: Trump Calling Senators About Gaetz Selection; U.K.'s Starmer Confronts China's Xi on Contentious Issues; Thieves Break into Grounds of Windsor Castle. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired November 19, 2024 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Lynda Kincaid live in Atlanta. We begin with breaking news out of Hong Kong where 45 pro- democracy figures have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges. It's a major blow to the city's political freedom since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security crackdown four years ago. Among those sentenced include legal scholar Benny Tai, who received the longest prison term of 10 years, and former student leader Joshua Wong, who will be jailed for over four and a half years. More than 300 people queued in the rain outside the court Tuesday morning to show their support for the defendants.

Police maintained a massive presence there. CNN's Ivan Watson is following the developments for us and joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to have you with us, Ivan.

So 45 pro-democracy protesters ranging from journalists to lawmakers, part of this mass sentencing today. And some of these people were prosecuted back in 2021, many already having served some years, right?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The bulk of these defendants were detained back in a mass police raid in January of 2021 and have been behind bars since then going through the trial process, awaiting trial. And now today in this sentencing and all of them receiving prison time ranging from about four years to 10 years. The longest sentence we believe was handed down to Benny Tai, who the panel of three carefully selected judges appointed by the Hong Kong authorities. There was no jury in this trial.

He received 10 years and was accused of being a mastermind in, quote, "a conspiracy to commit subversion." That is what these people were convicted of. Now, the bulk of the so called Hong Kong 47, they pleaded guilty to the crime in hopes of reducing their sentences. There were 16 initially who pleaded not guilty. Two of those defendants were acquitted back in May, though the government is trying to appeal one of those acquittals.

The remaining 14 also received jail sentences. As you pointed out, Joshua Wong, who was kind of a poster child, this youthful protest leader who has been a thorn in the authorities side really for years, he received more than four years in prison. And while leaving the courtroom was chanting I love Hong Kong as he was taken out of the courtroom. And as you pointed out, these were all defendants who had pretty much participated back in July of 2020 in an unofficial opposition primary election, running up onto what was supposed to be a citywide election for the city legislature and that primary is what the authorities here accused them of being, basically a scheme to try to subvert the city's authority.

The critics of this, which now include the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, they would argue that conducting a primary election is a normal activity in most democracies around the world. But the Hong Kong government and the law enforcement authorities here, and of course the Chinese government in Beijing, strongly disagree with that view. Lynda.

KINKADE: And just give us a sense of the reaction that you're seeing, especially from the public supporters of these protesters. I imagine some would be too worried to come out in public today.

WATSON: Well, there were hundreds of supporters who lined up, some in pre-dawn hours in stormy weather outside the courthouse to be able to enter the courtroom to witness this proceeding. But I think and we did see one demonstrator who tried to open up a banner outside the court house who was promptly detained and put into a police van and she was yelling that this isn't fair to jail any of these people. And I think that that underscores the remarkable transformation of political freedoms that we've seen in the city in the four years since this national security law was imposed on the city.

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If you go back to 2019, 2018, political protests were part of the fabric of this city. In fact, there were opposition lawmakers who were members of the elected legislature here. All of that is gone now, effectively, the trade unions, the student unions that used to exist, the annual marches that used to go through the center of the city. The protests that I have to admit in 2019 had gotten increasingly violent and that really alarmed the city authorities and the national government in Beijing. All of that is a thing of the past since the National Security Law was imposed on this city.

And basically public forms of dissent have all but disappeared from this city. The independent newspapers have all been shut down, they've been raided by the police. And in fact, we've seen signs of demographic decline in the course of the past five years, as deaths have exceeded births in the city, and there's been a large, substantial emigration from the city.

So the Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese government would argue that they've restored stability to Hong Kong. And there is some evidence of that. You don't see protests and certainly violent protests anymore. But by the same token, you don't see the forms of expression, political expression, both in the press and on the streets that used to be hallmarks of this city until four or five years ago. Lynda. KINKADE: All right, Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong. Good to have you on this story. Thank you.

World leaders at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro are highlighting the human suffering being caused by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. That came in a joint statement issued Monday which also calls for cooperation on climate change. Tuesday will be the second and final day of that meeting. And of course, these talks are taking place just two months before Donald Trump becomes the next U.S. President. He's expected to enact massive changes to U.S. policy.

And with that in mind, current President Joe Biden urged G20 members to press for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to keep pushing to accelerate a ceasefire deal that ensures Israel's security, brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children. I ask everyone here to increase the pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, President Biden also encouraged the group to support Ukraine. Donald Trump has been highly critical of continuing aid for Ukraine and has promised to end the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The United States strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table, in my view, should as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the Kremlin is accusing President Biden of adding fuel to the fire and escalating the fighting in Ukraine after he decided to allow Kyiv to use powerful long range U.S. missiles to strike inside Russia. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports from Moscow.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After Russia launched massive missile strikes against Ukraine this weekend, killing and wounding dozens in what the Russians call targeted strikes against infrastructure supporting Ukraine's war effort, Moscow is now up in arms over the Biden administration's decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S. supplied missiles capable of striking deep into Russia. State T.V. in breaking news mode, blasting the White House. The Biden administration has decided to continue the war which Trump promised to end, the host says.

The Kremlin spokesman accusing Washington of, quote, "pouring oil on the fire of the Ukraine war." And Russian President Vladimir Putin for weeks warning allowing Ukraine to hit deep inside Russia with Western weapons would be a massive escalation.

This will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia, Putin said in September.

Sources within the Biden administration tell CNN the decision was made to help Ukraine hold onto territory in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv says it's up against nearly 50,000 Russians but also troops from North Korea. Ukraine's president bullish hits are not made with words, he said. Such things don't need announcements. Missiles will speak for themselves.

But Kyiv's forces are rapidly losing ground on most frontlines, especially in the eastern Pokrovsk region. Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting the key battleground on Monday to try and shore up morale amongst his forces which remain badly outmanned and outgunned. This weekend, even Zelenskyy saying the war must end soon and he believes the incoming Trump administration will try and get it done quickly.

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The war will end faster with the policies of this team that will now lead the White House, he said. This is their approach, their promise to their society. Music to the ears of the Kremlin. While Russia has even changed its nuclear doctrine now allowing Moscow to use nukes, if a country like Ukraine attacks with long distance weapons with the help of a nuclear power like the U.S. Moscow's hope for better relations with the incoming Trump administration could cause the Kremlin to refrain from a strong response, Russian political analyst Alexey Naumov tells me.

ALEXEY NAUMOV, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the Kremlin will give Donald Trump some time to maybe reevaluate this policy, readjust it. We've seen some good signs about this. Elon Musk, who plays an outsized role in the incoming administration criticized the decision. Donald Trump Jr. criticized the decision.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Kremlin has not yet said what its response might look like, only that it would be, quote, "appropriate."

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, joining me now from Kyiv is Michael Bociurkiw, a global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Good to have you with us.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, FMR. SPOKESPERSON, ORG. FOR SECURITY & COOPERATION IN EUROPE: Good to be with you again, Lynda.

KINKADE: Sir, months after intense lobbying by Zelensky, Biden has now agreed to allow the Ukraine to use these longer range U.S. made and supplied weapons into Russia. Just explain why now?

BOCIURKIW: Well, why now? Because I think the Biden administration is trying to future proof or Trump proof Ukraine aid. But you know, and I think he's also trying to help solidify his somewhat tattered foreign affairs legacy. But it's too little, too late. And I think that's the feeling here in Ukraine that this should have been done, number one, much longer ago in order not to allow the Russians to move their kit, their fighter jets further away from the Russia Ukraine border.

But also because had it been done earlier, it would have given Ukraine much more advantage. And then finally, why give this permission with apparent restrictions that the Ukrainians are apparently only allowed to fire within the Kursk region where it was just reported that those 10,000 Russian troops are and thousand or so North Korean troops. So, a lot of questions here as how it was done. And then finally why leak it through the why not after that Amazon Forest announcement, stand up to Mr. Putin and say we're going to stare you down. We're going to hit hard because that's the only language I think is understood in the Kremlin.

KINKADE: Exactly. Yes. I mean, we did hear from lawmakers within the Kremlin who said that this could lead to a third world war. And of course, back in September, we heard from the Russian president who issued a similar warning, saying that it would mean that NATO countries, the U.S. and Europe are parties to this war in Ukraine. From a Russian perspective, just how significant is this decision?

BOCIURKIW: I think a lot of what we just heard in Fred's report, there is empty bluster coming from the Russian side. You know, they talk about this is a big red line that was crossed, but how much bigger of a red line could be crossed a few months ago when the Ukrainians rolled into Russian territory, into the Kursk region, took over a very, very big chunk of territory, this is a big humiliation. Of course they're going to threaten to strike back, and they very well could, and trademark Russian way subversively through third parties. But I think that we found out through that cursed incursion how hollowed out the Russian Defense Ministry is, how much indecision there is in the Kremlin and how weakened it's become after 1,000 days of war, Lynda, which is today.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And of course, I mean, we did hear from the foreign minister of Ukraine today about this decision. I just want to play some of that sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRII SYBIHA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The longer Ukraine can strike, the shorter the war will be. We have a full right to strike military targets in the territory of Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, as you say, a lot of these decisions have been very much incremental and very slow. But in terms of this decision going forward, like how soon could we see Ukraine using these weapons to strike 200 miles or 320 kilometers inside of Russia?

BOCIURKIW: Yes. Well, U.S. and Ukrainian officials are being quite cagey in terms of how many missiles, if at all, are actually in Ukraine right now.

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But sure, they have a heck of a payload capacity, as you say, 300 plus kilometer range. And that, by the way, puts Russia's Southern Military District headquarters within range as well as Mr. Putin's pet project, that Kerch Strait Bridge, which is a very, very enticing military target for the Ukrainians. That's a very important conduit between mainland Russia and Crimea for the transfer of military equipment.

So, let's hope they do get the stocks because worldwide these stocks are very low. But I think they can't wait to get their hands on them.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. It can't come soon enough. Michael Bociurkiw, as always, great to have you on the program. Thank you.

BOCIURKIW: My pleasure. Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, here in the United States, President-elect Donald Trump continues to round out his choices for cabinet members as he prepares to return to the White House. He's tapped former congressman and Fox Business News host Sean Duffy for secretary of transportation. The role is currently filled by Pete Buttigieg.

Sources tell CNN that Trump has also personally made calls to senators trying to secure support former Congressman Matt Gaetz, his pick for attorney general. That choice has sparked heated discussion in Washington since Gaetz was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee on allegations of sex trafficking and sex with a minor. An attorney for two women who testified in that Investigation spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett saying one client claimed she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL LEPPARD, ATTORNEY FOR TWO WOMEN WHO TESTIFIED TO HOUSE ETHICS CMTE.: She testified to the House that as she was walking out to the pool area, she turned to her right and she witnessed her client -- I'm sorry, her friend having sex with Representative Gaetz. And her friend at that time was 17.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, his client went on to say she didn't think Gaetz knew the girl was underage at the time. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Well, Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his mass deportation plans and has signaled his intent to declare a national emergency regarding immigration. He responded to this post on Truth Social on Monday. It comes amid plans from the incoming administration to once again crack down on border security and reverse Biden era policies. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Elect Donald Trump confirmed that he is preparing a national emergency declaration to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportation. It's a telling move, one that indicates just how resource intensive any type of plan to detain and deport migrants at large scale would be. Now, it also may sound familiar, of course, Donald Trump in his first term used a national emergency declaration to unlock Pentagon funds for his border wall. Now, that faced numerous lawsuits, and it's possible that they may happen again. But sources tell me that this time a national emergency declaration would be used to use and shore up Pentagon resources and military assets again for detention spaces and also to follow through on those deportations.

What they say is that this would not be to bring U.S. Military to arrest immigrants in the United States. Now, all of this, of course, is because they are trying to build deportation up to scale. And that also includes, according to sources, regional capability and looking at where they can expand detention facilities already in the United States.

Now, in addition to all of this, sources say that other plans are underway that includes executive actions like bringing back remain in Mexico, revising asylum restrictions or, for example, making more immigrants eligible for removal. Taken together, it would amount to a far more hardline approach to immigration, one similar to Donald Trump's first term in office.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

KINKADE: Well, Daniel Treisman joins me now. He's a professor of political science at UCLA and the co-author of "Spin Dictators, the Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century." Professor, good to have you with us.

DANIEL TREISMAN, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UCLA: Great to be here.

KINKADE: So let's start with that mass deportation plan because we did hear Trump confirming his intention to use the U.S. Military to carry out what he says could be the deportation of anywhere from a few million people to over 20 million people. And he has said so that he will do it at any cost. We know from the American Immigration Council, they estimate that the cost to deport just 1 million people would be over $88 billion in a year. And that doesn't take into account the cost of -- to American business, especially agriculture, losing labor. Is this proposal as it stands financially viable?

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TREISMAN: Well, it will require a lot of searching for money in different parts of the budget. And it looks like he's got his eye on the military budget to allocate some of the money there to producing these detention camps that they can use to round up and detain illegal immigrants. But obviously, if we're talking about 80 billion, maybe hundreds of billions of dollars, that's a very significant amount.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. I want to look at some of the choices. Donald Trump, of course, has tapped Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. I want to play some sound from Republican Senator Mullin of Oklahoma. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): He was accused of sleeping with an underage girl, and there's a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him, because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor that all of us had walked away of the girls that he had slept with. He'd brag about how he would crush ed medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I mean, so right now we are hearing that Trump is reportedly calling senators to get Gaetz confirmed. What is the chance that he'll get confirmation without an actual confirmation hearing?

TREISMAN: So they floated the idea of recess appointments. It's not clear how serious that is. It would require, as I understand it, both Houses of Congress to vote to have a majority vote in favor of going into recess. And it would disable the operations of the Congress for a period. I think the recess has to be at least 10 days.

So it's a pretty serious, inconvenient recourse in order to make these appointments. And it seems as though there will be some significant resistance both to the candidates and to the use of this maneuver in the Senate. But we'll have to wait and see, because Trump is seemingly determined to force his will on the Senate right at the start and to establish who's really calling the shots.

KINKADE: And I assume, Professor, to establish who -- you know, who is going to be completely loyal to his agenda and his picks. We did hear from Speaker Mike Johnson defending his efforts to block this House ethics report into Matt Gaetz, saying we're in a different era. OK? I mean, he argues that it shouldn't come out because Gaetz has resigned as Congressman.

But if he is set to be AG, I mean, there is potential that this report could be leaked anyhow. There's clearly Republicans out there that want this information to come to light, right?

TREISMAN: We're already hearing what's in the report, and there may be a lot more. Yes, it seems as though various people are very eager to get the details out there. And it's hard to see an argument why the Congress, the Senate and the American people should be denied access to this report when we're talking about the appointment of the attorney general, one of the most important cabinet members to be appointed and one who has such incredible authority to direct the course of prosecutions and to decide how the enforcement apparatus is used.

KINKADE: And I don't know if you caught it, the image that is going viral right now, the -- Trump with some people within his circle, including his pick to run Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who of course wants to make America healthy again, sitting on board with Donald Trump eating fast food. I wonder whether that McDonald's face was a loyalty test because Robert F. Kennedy was asked about it afterwards. What did you make of that image? You can see Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Jr., and of course, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. They're all sitting around having McDonald's and a Coca Cola.

TREISMAN: Well, it's very characteristic of Trump. He likes to humiliate people, to show very publicly that he decides not they. And yes, he's right away showing RFK that he is going to have to be loyal to Trump rather than to any principles that he might have or any preferences he might have. So I'm sure we'll see more of that. We're already seeing how he's cutting down to size the people that he's appointing.

So simultaneously raising them up and showing them very clearly that they serve at the pleasure of the president.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Professor Daniel Treisman, great to have your perspective. Thanks for joining us.

TREISMAN: Thank you.

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KINKADE: Well, the latest Israeli strikes is taking a harsh toll on northern Gaza. Just ahead, what a hospital director is saying about an attack that killed 17 members of the same family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. Gaza officials say at least 50 people have been killed in the latest Israeli strikes. That includes 17 members of the same family in Bethlehem. The city's hospital director says his facility was attacked as well. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. The IDF previously said it was targeting the terrorist infrastructure in the area.

Lebanese authorities say they expect the death toll to rise after at least five people were killed by an Israeli attack on central Beirut. The strike hit a densely populated neighborhood a few hundred meters from the prime minister's office and parliament. It's the third Israeli attack on the heart of the Lebanese capital in two days. Again, CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

There is death and destruction in parts of Israel as well. Israel says falling debris from an intercepted rocket injured several people in Tel Aviv and at least one person has been killed and several others injured in rocket attacks on a Palestinian town in northern Israel. Details now from CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLAMATIC EDITOR: Well, police saying it was debris from a missile interception that caused that fire just a couple of miles from the center of Tel Aviv outside a shopping mall. Medical officials on the ground say three people injured there, one of them seriously, two of them moderately injured. Earlier in the day, however, a missile impacting in northern Israel killed one person and injured a number of others in a strike there. That's as the State Department says it's heard back now from both Israel and Lebanese officials about their efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

What we're hearing from Israeli officials is that things are moving in a positive direction. But they say that they need to take direct action, have a full operational freedom is how they describe it. And that appears to imply that they need the ability and want the ability in the terms of what they will agree to. And it's important to them, they say, that they have the right to fire back if the terms of the ceasefire are violated.

Now Hezbollah has made their response through Lebanese officials, but both the Lebanese prime minister and the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament both had a degree of oversight of the U.S. proposal that's been passed onwards to Hezbollah. They say they're not aware of this sort of language, precise language, indicating that Israel would have the right to strike back if the cease fire terms were violated. So that appears to be a gap between the two sides. But this is something that State Department officials say that they are working towards resolving, trying to find a way, and they're putting a lot of energy into it worrying about that ceasefire.

[00:30:11]

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, the U.N. reports nearly 100 aid trucks were looted in Gaza over the weekend. It happened at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Saturday.

The U.N. says drivers were forced to unload trucks at gunpoint, and workers were injured and vehicles extensively damaged.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees didn't say who did the looting but blamed the collapse of law and order and Israeli authorities for creating a perilous environment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIPPE LAZZARINI, UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL: We have been warning for a long time ago about the total breakdown of civil order until, you know, four or five months ago, we still have local capacity.

People who were escorting the convoy. This has completely gone, which means we are in an environment where, you know local gangs, local families are struggling among each other to take control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the attack on the convoy comes as the U.N. warns that the severe shortage of food and aid in Gaza will only get worse without intervention.

Well, Chinese President Xi is using the G-20 summit to announce new plans to support developing countries. We'll break them down for you in a live report from Beijing next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

The second and final day of the G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro will begin in the coming hours. Leaders of the world's 20 major economies are gathered there to discuss trade, climate change, and the state of the world.

On Monday, they issued a joint statement highlighting the suffering caused by wars in Gaza and Ukraine. They also called for cooperation on climate change, poverty, reduction, and tax policy.

Chinese President Xi told the leaders about China's plans to support the global South, also known as developing countries.

CNN's Marc Stewart is live for us in Beijing with much more.

Good to see you, Marc.

So, Xi Jinping wasn't the only one raising issues. He also faced criticism from a prominent politician.

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Lynda. Good morning. This involves British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his meeting with Xi Jinping.

Of course, as you mentioned, the Chinese president is at the G-20. And one of his objectives is to promote this message of Chinese stability amid the political changes that are taking place in the United States.

[00:35:07]

But Starmer used this meeting with the Chinese president to bring up one of the most sensitive issues facing China today, and that's human rights.

Starmer confronted the -- the Chinese president. Let's listen to some of his remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm very pleased that my foreign secretary and Foreign Minister Wang met recently and discussed respective concerns, including human rights and parliamentary sanctions; Taiwan, South China Sea, and our shared interest in Hong Kong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: The prime minister also brought up Jimmy Lai, a well-known pro-democracy advocate in Hong Kong, who is now in prison because of his activism.

He brought him up directly. Now, the meeting did end on very amicable terms, looking at some of the remarks by both leaders. It was on a positive note.

But it is noteworthy that Xi Jinping was confronted about human rights in a very public forum, such as the G-20. Keir Starmer was not the only politician with whom Xi Jinping had a meeting.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also met with Xi Jinping. This was also a noteworthy meeting, because at times, until very recently, there was very much a diplomatic deadlock between the two countries stemming from the pandemic times when Australia confronted China about how it was handling COVID-19.

But since that time, diplomatic relations have thawed, and more discussion is taking place.

Lynda, obviously, the G-20 has a very full agenda, but it's often these sideline meetings, these one-on-one meetings that often bring big headlines, as well, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Certainly, the ones to watch.

Marc Stewart for us in Beijing. Thanks so much.

Well, still to come, major concerns after a robbery at Britain's Windsor Castle. We're going to have all the details about what was stolen after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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KINKADE: Welcome back. New details in a mass rape case that has rocked France.

The sons of the man accused of organizing the mass rape of their mother have asked a court to punish their father severely and say they will never forgive him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PELICOT, GISELE AND DOMINIQUE PELICOT'S SON (through translator): We know the atrocities my mother experienced. It's obvious that we can't forgive. I lost my father. I found a monster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, their sister has also alleged abuse by their father, which he denies.

But he has admitted to inviting dozens of strangers, over nearly a decade, to their house to rape his wife after he drugged her.

A nine-day march that began in New Zealand's North has reached Parliament in the capital as thousands rally against a contentious bill that reinterprets a 184-year-old treaty with the indigenous Maori people. Opponents say it undermines the rights of the Maori, who make up a

fifth of the population. Proposed by the Act New Zealand Party, the bill is unlikely to pass into law.

Well, a major security breach in the royal family after thieves broke into the grounds of Windsor Castle in the U.K. and stole some farm vehicles.

CNN's Max Foster has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You would have thought it was one of the most secure compounds in Britain, a base for all the U.K.'s senior royals. But that didn't stop burglars from breaking into Windsor Castle grounds.

Police say thieves entered a farm building on the crown estate land late on Sunday, October the 13th, stealing a pickup truck and a quad bike before making their escape.

The farm, just minutes away from Windsor Castle and from Adelaide Cottage, where the prince and princess of Wales have a family home. And they were likely there that night.

FOSTER: There's no indication that the royal family were targeted or ever in any danger. But the incident does show another security breach surrounding the royals.

Kate and William live on the estate in a cottage during school term time, with their children, and they don't live with any staff. So, it does raise questions.

And for their part, Kensington and Buckingham Palace both say they don't comment on security matters.

FOSTER (voice-over): The break-in, just days before King Charles and Queen Camilla's long flight to visit Australia and Samoa. The couple weren't at Windsor when the break-in took place.

Incidents like this aren't new, and this one certainly not the most serious. In 2021, a man broke into Windsor Castle itself, wearing a mask and armed with this weapon, a crossbow.

The 19-year-old was hoping to kill Queen Elizabeth II, but he was stopped before he could harm her. Still, the incident raising serious concerns about security around the royal family.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back at the top of the hour with much more CNN NEWSROOM.

But first, WORLD SPORT starts in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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